NATIONS SEE EDOM PERISH, DESERT BLOSSOM, AND A HIGHWAY TO ZION

Our reading this afternoon is found on pages 192 and 193 of "The Mount of Blessing"--

"On the assurance of the love of God toward us, Jesus enjoins love to one another, in onecomprehensive principle covering all the relations of human fellowship.

"The Jews had been concerned about what they should receive; the burden of their anxiety wasto secure what they thought their due of power and respect and service. But Christ teaches thatour anxiety should not be, How much are we to receive? but, How much can we give? Thestandard of our obligation to others is found in what we ourselves would regard as theirobligation to us.

"Every one who has been made a steward of the manifold grace of God, is called upon to impartto souls in ignorance and darkness, even as, were he in their place, he would desire them to impartto him....

"So also with the gifts and blessings of this life: whatever you may possess above your fellows,places you in debt, to that degree, to all who are less favored."

What shall we pray for this afternoon? -- That we may imbibe the great principle of the GoldenRule, and realize that our concern should not be as to how much we are to receive, but as to howmuch we can give. Let us pray for understanding that the standard of our obligation to others isfound in what we personally would regard as their obligation to us; and also that whatever wepossess above our fellowmen places us to that degree in debt to those less favored.

Our subject for this afternoon is found in Isaiah 34 and 35. Last week, you recall, we studiedthe thirty-third chapter, the Lord's burden concerning the church as she approaches the time of"harvest," -- the time the "wheat" is put into the barn, and the "tares" burned (Matt. 13:30); thetime the "good fish" are put into "vessels" and the "bad fish" cast out (Matt. 13:47-49) as arethose who have not the "wedding garment" on (Matt. 22:1-13). Continuing now into thethirty-fourth chapter, we there see that God invites the nations of the world to draw near and tohear His mighty work of refining:

Isa. 34:1-3 -- "Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and allthat is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it. For the indignation of the Lord isupon all nations, and His fury upon all their armies: He hath utterly destroyed them, He hathdelivered them to the slaughter. Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come upout of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood."

Why does God invite the nations of all the earth to draw near and to hear? -- That they mightconsider His indignation against the wicked in His church and know

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what to expect when His Judgment spreads out among all nations; that they might know what toexpect when His refining work begins among them; that they might therefore beforehand countthe cost. His judgment, He declares, is already pronounced upon the armies of the world -- "Forthe time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, whatshall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?"--1 Pet. 4:17.

Isa. 34:4 -- "And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled togetheras a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling figfrom the fig tree."

While verse 3 points out that the solemn events of this chapter take place in a day of giganticworld-wide armament program, verse 4, being parallel with Revelation 6:14, it reveals that theytake place in the period of the sixth seal, in the days of the sealing of the 144,000 and thegathering of the innumerable multitude out of all nations, the seal that we are now living in. Thesixth seal may overlap the seventh.

Isa. 34:5-11 -- "For My sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down uponIdumea, and upon the people of My curse, to judgment. The sword of the Lord is filled withblood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of thekidneys of rams: for the Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land ofIdumea. And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and theirland shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. For it is the day of theLord's vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion. And the

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streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereofshall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go upfor ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever andever. But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell init: and He shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness."

The immediate curse, we see, rests upon Idumea. Antitypically speaking, it is the land of theantitypical Esauites -- those who by rights should have kept the office which the antitypicalJacobites take away from them. They so underestimate its value that they, like Esau of old, selltheir rights for a dish of red pottage as it were. (For further study on the subject, see "TheShepherd's Rod," Vol. 1, pp. 52-111.)

Isa. 34:12 -- "They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all herprinces shall be nothing."

Evidently after the destruction falls upon Idumea, none of her so-called nobles shall be foundthere to participate in the exodus (Isa. 11:11) to the antitypical Kingdom (the church purified),and her princes shall be as nothing. Then, it must be that those who escape and enter into theKingdom are mostly from among the common people, those from the streets and the lanes (Luke14:16-21). "...In the last solemn work few great men will be engaged. They are self- sufficient,independent of God, and he cannot use them." -- "Testimonies for the Church," Vol. 5, pg. 80. "...Only those who have withstood temptation in the strength of the Mighty One will be permittedto act a part in proclaiming it

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[the Third Angel's Message] when it shall have swelled into the Loud Cry." -- "Review andHerald," Nov. 18, 1908.

Isa. 34:13-15 -- "And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortressesthereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls. The wild beasts of thedesert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; thescreech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest. There shall the great owlmake her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also begathered, every one with her mate."

God does not forsake the earth. He does not forgo His power nor His interest in Truth andrighteousness. He does not let the world go into oblivion. What He does do, though, is makeexamples of some in order to save many others, for when the judgments of God are upon theearth, the inhabitants will learn righteousness. (Isa. 26:9.)

Is it armament then that the nations of today need for peace and security? Is atomic war to betheir fear? -- What they need to fear is "the sword of the Lord," for His "sword shall be bathed inheaven," "it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of [His] curse." They need notfear anything if they fear the Lord. Let them make Him their fear, their dread and protection (Isa.8:13). So He commands:

Isa. 34:16 -- "Seek ye out of the book of the Lord, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shallwant her mate: for My mouth It hath commanded, and His Spirit It hath gathered them."

God here counsels us to search the Bible and to implicitly

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believe that not one of Its prophecies shall fail, -- no, not one shall fail to follow another in itsturn. And why should we have this confidence? -- Because God Himself has commanded, andbecause His Spirit, not the wisdom or efforts of men has gathered into a single volume, thewritings of the prophets of old, "the book of the Lord" -- the non-sectarian Bible as we know Ittoday.

Isa. 34:17 -- "And He hath cast the lot for them, and His hand hath divided it unto them by line:they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation shall they dwell therein."

Regardless whether we take this verse to say that the wild beasts "shall possess it forever," orwhether we take it to say that those who seek "out of the book of the Lord" "shall possess itforever," our greatest concern must be to personally acquaint ourselves with the Lord and HisTruth if we would gain His favor and find a shelter in this time of trouble.

"Behold, a King shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. And a Manshall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in adry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land." Isa. 32:1, 2.

Now we shall go on into the thirty-fifth chapter of Isaiah, which is but a continuation of thethirty-fourth.

Isa. 35:1 -- "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shallrejoice, and blossom as the rose."

What a difference when God manifests His power and purifies His church! Then the lands ofthe Gentiles (the wilderness) and the land of the heathen (the solitary

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place) shall both be glad to see God's holy people. Finally as God's Truth for this time penetratesthroughout the lands where there are no Christians at all, the desert places shall blossom as therose, so to speak, and thus yield an abundant harvest of souls.

Isa. 35:2-4 -- "It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory ofLebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory ofthe Lord, and the excellency of our God. Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feebleknees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will comewith vengeance, even God with a recompence; He will come and save you."

This great commission and opportunity to proclaim God's soon coming vengeance are ours. We must not fail to take advantage of these privileges. With the mighty message for this time wemust strengthen the weak; we must make firm the knees that are giving out. Those who areunable to stand up and to hold their own must be strengthened. We must reassure the fearful thatGod is to come with vengeance against the unbelieving and with recompence for the faithful.

Isa. 35:5, 6 -- "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall beunstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in thewilderness shall waters break out, and streams [of truth] in the desert."

When these things take place, then it will be just as natural for the blind to see, the deaf to hear,the lame to leap, and the dumb to sing, yes, as natural as blossoms are followed with fruit. God'sTruth for this time is to spread everywhere and reap a great harvest of souls.

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"I saw jets of light shining from cities and villages, and from the high places and the low placesof the earth. God's word was obeyed, and as a result there were memorials for Him in every cityand village. His truth was proclaimed throughout the world." -- "Testimonies", Vol. 9, pg. 28. Ifbut one soul saved from every city and village there would be several times 144,000 living souls.

Isa. 35:7 -- "And the parched ground [the places which are now entirely devoid of Truth] shallbecome a pool, and the thirsty land [the land that thirsts for God's Truth] springs of water: in thehabitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes."

There shall be fruitage, you see, even where the dragons lie.

Isa. 35:8 -- "And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness;the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shallnot err therein."

None shall be left in the "wilderness," for there shall be a highway for all the followers of God'sTruth. Matters not what the faithful be, illiterate or otherwise, they shall not err therein. Indeed,all the "wheat" shall be gathered and put into the "barn," the Kingdom. (See Tract No. 3, "TheJudgment and the Harvest.")

be allowed to return and to endanger the peace of God's people. Only the redeemed shall walk onthe Highway of Holiness. And where does the Highway lead? -- The next verse gives the answer:

Isa. 35:10 -- "And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs andeverlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shallflee away."

Yes, the Highway leads to Zion. With songs and everlasting joy shall the redeemed entertherein, never more to sorrow or to sigh. "For He cometh, to judge the earth; He shall judge theworld with righteousness, and the people with His Truth." Ps. 96:13.

Brother, Sister, the sacrifices we may be called to make are as nothing in comparison to theprivilege of heading for Zion via the Highway of Holiness. Ponder upon this, then act. Letnothing deter you from complying with God's Truth for this time -- the day in which the nationssee Edom perish and the desert blossom. Act now while the highway to Zion is in preparation.

"We all went under the tree and sat down to look at the glory of the place, when Brethren Fitchand Stockman, who had preached the gospel of the kingdom, and whom God had laid in the graveto save them, came up to us and asked us what we had passed through while they were sleeping. We tried to call up our greatest trials, but they looked so small compared with the far moreexceeding and eternal weight of glory that surrounded us that we could not speak them out, andwe all cried out, 'Alleluia, heaven is cheap enough!' and we touched our glorious harps and madeheaven's arches ring." -- "Early Writings," p. 17.

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